AMD has officially announced, moments ago, the Radeon Technologies Group. A new dedicated business unit for graphics and immersive computing. The new formed division will be headed by the company’s graphics guru, Raja Koduri, an ATI veteran that was responsible for creating the very first DX9 GPU in the industry. Raja was brought back to the company in 2013 after a stint at Apple to lead the company’s graphics efforts. Raja now holds the title of chief architect, Radeon Technologies Group, and will be reporting directly to CEO Dr. Lisa Su as a Senior Vice President inside the AMD fold.

Radeon Graphics Wins Its Podium Back Inside AMD

Not too long ago inside AMD ,and after the ATi acquisition, there were two dedicated business units; one for CPUs and one for GPUs. This corporate structure was held for several years, however leadership at AMD changed and with Rory Read at the helm following his successor Dirk Myer it was decided – during AMD’s restructuring phase – that the two business units were to merge into one cohesive division dubbed the Computing and Graphics group. Another division was also created dubbed the Embedded, Enterprise and Semi-custom group and it combined the said business units and put them under one roof. The restructure netted a total of two business groups, one that’s more attuned to the needs of the traditional computing and graphics markets and one that caters to AMD’s smaller, higher growth markets.

With the formation of the Radeon Technologies Group AMD has created a third business group dedicated to graphics and nothing but graphics. A move that brings the company closer to its original structure and in a sense gives graphics its soul back inside AMD. It signals a re-ignited focus and interest in the traditional graphics market that has abated over time as the PC market declined. However as the PC gaming market continues to boom and new markets such as virtual reality and augmented reality, which are destined for enormity, begin to exist their stages of infancy, AMD sets its sights on graphics technology as a beacon for future success.

“We are entering an age of immersive computing where we will be surrounded by billions of brilliant pixels that enhance our daily lives in ways we have yet to fully comprehend,” said Dr. Su. “AMD is well positioned to lead this transition with graphics IP that powers the best gaming and visual computing experiences today. With the creation of the Radeon Technologies Group we are putting in place a more agile, vertically-integrated graphics organization focused on solidifying our position as the graphics industry leader, recapturing profitable share across traditional graphics markets, and staking leadership positions in new markets such as virtual and augmented reality.”

Lisa Su has clearly enumerated the goals for this group and the purpose behind its creation. AMD wants a more agile and focused group to lead the march on establishing a foothold in the emerging markets of VR and AR and to lead the long and gruesome battle for market share in traditional graphics against its main rivals Nvidia and Intel. In a nutshell it gives the GPU gurus inside the company more freedom and flexibility to innovate and a more organized and efficient structure to bring faster and more revolutionary products to the market at a quicker pace.

The Radeon Technologies Group is now an autonomous graphics division and with decades of innovation, a vast library of IP and one of the brightest minds in the industry leading it, it’s set to take on a more pivotal role in defining AMD as a company and aligning it for long-term success.

Raja Koduri AMD SVP and Chief Architect, Radeon Technologies Group

“AMD is one of the few companies with the engineering talent and IP to make emerging immersive computing opportunities a reality,” said Koduri. “Now, with the Radeon Technologies Group, we have a dedicated team focused on growing our business as we create a unique environment for the best and brightest minds in graphics to be a part of the team re-defining the industry.”

There’s now a total of three business groups inside AMD. The Radeon Technologies Group, a dedicated graphics division headed by ATi veteran Raja Koduri. The Enterprise Embedded and Semi-custom group headed by the former Dell server veteran Forrest Norrod. And finally the Computing And Graphics Group – focused on CPUs and APUs – headed by the ex-Intel and IBM veteran Jim Anderson who will be responsible for introducing AMD’s highly anticipated Zen CPU core to the world next year. We hope that the creation of this new Radeon unit also leads to a new and re-focused CPU division that’s ready to bring on the fight in the high performance computing arena next year.

At the end of the day what happened today is what should have happened a long while ago. The corporate structure at AMD now is far more effective and comprehensive than it had been for the past several years. And with word on the street of an imminent injection of capital coming AMD’s way very soon, we should see the dedicated CPU and GPU groups take on a razor sharp focus and play a much more aggressive role in the PC industry’s perpetual game of chess.